one-eyed_jim
Old School Grand Master
Elev12k lives in the Netherlands.jaypee":2s6wa8oi said:
http://www.marktplaats.nl/z.html?query=miyata+runner
old mtb for heavy-duty touring: recommendations please
- Thread starter bhumidravi
- Start date
http://www.marktplaats.nl/z.html?query=miyata+runner
AshtanoJoe
Dirt Disciple
bhumidravi":1jt2739u said:
Stock wheels, hubs, shifters and brakes. This was a 20km shakedown ride in preparation for a tour that had to be cancelled due to torrential rain and flooding, so I never got to tour on it. I swapped the crank, cassette and rear der out because I prefer a 22-32-44 with 13-34 7 speed. The DX derailleur couldn't handle the 34t so I used an Alivio. If I was going on a trip like you are planning I'd probably go with lights and mudguards too.
Leaving in March?? Have you prepared visas, vaccinations, camping and cooking gear, spares and tools etc etc (not to mention the bike itself)? Better get your skates on!!!
A lot of the modern stuff is worse for durability. Modern XT hubs have smaller bearings and aluminium axles - long distance tourists use LX or SLX as they are still the old design with big bearings and steel axles.
Personally I'd never go anywhere near a rapidfire shifter from anyone - bar-end or thumbies can always be switched to friction mode. A pal of mine trashed a bar-end shifter in India - a roadside guy made him a replacement lever from a chunk of brass for £2!
Personally I'd never go anywhere near a rapidfire shifter from anyone - bar-end or thumbies can always be switched to friction mode. A pal of mine trashed a bar-end shifter in India - a roadside guy made him a replacement lever from a chunk of brass for £2!
bhumidravi
Retro Newbie
Couldn't resist the 10 euro 1991 Valley Runner. For my purposes the frame has some welcome improvements: low rider mounts, OS tubing, top tube cable routing, 3 bottle cage braze-ons.
This is actually the 3rd 1991 Valley / Fore Runner (same frame, just with cheaper components) to come up for 25 euros or less in just a few months,so if anyone's looking for a touring conversion these have to be some of the best bargains around.
Too bad your tour fell through. The standard touring wheel offered by wheel buiders nowadays seems to be LX hubs, Sapim spokes, and Rigida Sputnik rims. I'd think a Koga-built wheelset w/ DX hubs & Wolber AT20 rims would be comparable in strength and durability, but it'd be nice to have some real-life experience to back that up.
I've seen 700c trekking bikes with tandem hubs and 40 or even 48 spokes, makes 36 seem pretty frail in comparison.
I'm an experienced ultralight backpacker & have lived in the developing world most of my life, so I have all the gear & shots. Iran visa is in the works. Most of these visas are only valid for a limited period from the date of issue, which is a nightmare to plan if your trip is going to take more than a year, so I prefer to arrange the rest along the way. In my experience consular sections in third world cities can be more flexible in other ways as well.
As for spares & tools, it's more a question of what to leave behind than what to acquire. Luckily there are a ton of web forums & blogs where people who've done this before share their experiences on what's essential and what's excess baggage.
This is actually the 3rd 1991 Valley / Fore Runner (same frame, just with cheaper components) to come up for 25 euros or less in just a few months,so if anyone's looking for a touring conversion these have to be some of the best bargains around.
Too bad your tour fell through. The standard touring wheel offered by wheel buiders nowadays seems to be LX hubs, Sapim spokes, and Rigida Sputnik rims. I'd think a Koga-built wheelset w/ DX hubs & Wolber AT20 rims would be comparable in strength and durability, but it'd be nice to have some real-life experience to back that up.
I've seen 700c trekking bikes with tandem hubs and 40 or even 48 spokes, makes 36 seem pretty frail in comparison.
I'm an experienced ultralight backpacker & have lived in the developing world most of my life, so I have all the gear & shots. Iran visa is in the works. Most of these visas are only valid for a limited period from the date of issue, which is a nightmare to plan if your trip is going to take more than a year, so I prefer to arrange the rest along the way. In my experience consular sections in third world cities can be more flexible in other ways as well.
As for spares & tools, it's more a question of what to leave behind than what to acquire. Luckily there are a ton of web forums & blogs where people who've done this before share their experiences on what's essential and what's excess baggage.
There's some interesting points here, but - admittidly without having a big trek loaded touring experience - I would like to challange some points about wheels.
A pair of Mavic Crossmax XL with Ceramic rims from almost 10 years ago can now be brought at a reasonable price. All facets about this wheel are well known, and for all purposes are retro outdated unfashionable tat, but are tried and tested by people who jump about a lot.
There's a side of me thinking that a LX hub or XT hub with a fairly difficult to find 40 hole drilling and what not is possibly too outdated. The support tools required and the fact that the freehub is not fully servicable is a minus point. The reliability of them is proven though (albeit in very low temperatures there are issues if they have not been prepared).
The Mavic rear freehub requires fairly regular cleaning and oiling, but that is 10 minute job and requires only two allen keys. The freehub critical parts of springs, pawls and bushing can be replaced very easy with no specialist tools. The cassette doesn't even need to be removed.
Someone is now going to say about the poor availability of specialist spokes....for the record I did a renovation job on a pair of Crossmax which involved putting the hacksaw to a tensioned AL Zircal spoke - after I had a good go at it with wire cutters with no success!. I was blown away that the cut was two thirds in before they snapped. The abuse required to snap a non-stretchable AL Zircal spoke in the real touring world IMHO would be considerable and far far far greater than a regular (poorly maintained) steel spoke wheel that gradually looses it's tension.
Bearings are industrial and available world wide. Although they are marketed as sealed, you can re-grease them if need be without removing them from the hub. Roadside replacement of the entire bearing under an extreme condition could be feasible. If the actual internal of LX or XT hub was damaged with grit, then there is no option but to replace the whole hub / wheel as it would degrade even with new bearings and cones.
Ceramic rims will also decrease your brake pad wear in dry conditions, and you will have a very visible external sign of eventual rim wear for dreaded rim cracks. You can run them tubeless with sealent so that decreases the puncture issue with no real weight penality. Carrying a spare tube and tyre is still option of course.
Food for thought, comments welcome. In comparison to the pairs of 2nd hand Crossmax serviced and working like new vs 2nd hand traditional wheels that simply had to be trashed I've made my own mind up regarding longevity...
A pair of Mavic Crossmax XL with Ceramic rims from almost 10 years ago can now be brought at a reasonable price. All facets about this wheel are well known, and for all purposes are retro outdated unfashionable tat, but are tried and tested by people who jump about a lot.
There's a side of me thinking that a LX hub or XT hub with a fairly difficult to find 40 hole drilling and what not is possibly too outdated. The support tools required and the fact that the freehub is not fully servicable is a minus point. The reliability of them is proven though (albeit in very low temperatures there are issues if they have not been prepared).
The Mavic rear freehub requires fairly regular cleaning and oiling, but that is 10 minute job and requires only two allen keys. The freehub critical parts of springs, pawls and bushing can be replaced very easy with no specialist tools. The cassette doesn't even need to be removed.
Someone is now going to say about the poor availability of specialist spokes....for the record I did a renovation job on a pair of Crossmax which involved putting the hacksaw to a tensioned AL Zircal spoke - after I had a good go at it with wire cutters with no success!. I was blown away that the cut was two thirds in before they snapped. The abuse required to snap a non-stretchable AL Zircal spoke in the real touring world IMHO would be considerable and far far far greater than a regular (poorly maintained) steel spoke wheel that gradually looses it's tension.
Bearings are industrial and available world wide. Although they are marketed as sealed, you can re-grease them if need be without removing them from the hub. Roadside replacement of the entire bearing under an extreme condition could be feasible. If the actual internal of LX or XT hub was damaged with grit, then there is no option but to replace the whole hub / wheel as it would degrade even with new bearings and cones.
Ceramic rims will also decrease your brake pad wear in dry conditions, and you will have a very visible external sign of eventual rim wear for dreaded rim cracks. You can run them tubeless with sealent so that decreases the puncture issue with no real weight penality. Carrying a spare tube and tyre is still option of course.
Food for thought, comments welcome. In comparison to the pairs of 2nd hand Crossmax serviced and working like new vs 2nd hand traditional wheels that simply had to be trashed I've made my own mind up regarding longevity...
bhumidravi
Retro Newbie
I quite like the paint - call it "neon safari" or "hypercolor desert camo", & maybe it'll seem a little cooler than "blueberry vanilla custard"! If people really can't stand the paintjob there's the Fore Runner in respectable black/red.
But in any case, truly hideous 18 speed SIS bikes get sold for more everyday; under 20 euros is usually rusty wreck territory. Kinda boggles my mind that these lower end Kogas get put in that category. (Although this one is clearly overpriced.)
It's an interesting idea, but besides the exotic parts, I'd be worried about riding on just 20 spokes. As you say, it's been proven in competition, but cross country racing puts different stresses on a wheel than loaded touring.
I'll do a 2-3 week practice run on the current wheels in the Ardennes/Saarland in January & really abuse the wheels (carry more weight than necessary, ride the roughest trails I can find), see how that goes.
